The invention is within the field of containers for, or packaging for, analytical aids, in particular for magazines, specifically magazines for analytical sensors for the measurement of body fluid parameters, for example in a body fluid of a user. The invention relates to a process for the production of a container in particular designed to permit acceptance of an analytical aid, in particular of hydrophilic sensors, and sterile packaging of these.
The prior art discloses containers or packaging, also termed magazines, for sensors or for other articles that are to be kept sterile. The particular emphasis here is placed on ensuring sterility of said articles over a maximum period. Sterility is particularly important for articles that are intended to penetrate into the human body, examples being analytical aids.
Packaging for food or drink often uses metal composites, and particularly often uses aluminum-containing composites, with the aim firstly of providing packaging that meets food hygiene requirements, but also of producing packaging that is not excessively heavy but that is nonetheless sufficiently stable, in particular stackable, and airtight.
This type of packaging is disclosed by way of example in the documents WO 2007/029755 and EP-A-1 640 277, where a thermoplastic material is applied on an aluminum surface in order to bring about sufficient stability for the storage of food or drink comprising carbonic acid. Although said containers ensure that stability is sufficient for the everyday handling of the food or drink, they have the disadvantage that they have to have a minimum thickness in order to ensure that stability is adequate for handling by a user and in order to withstand not only the stresses caused by direct exposure to the food or drink but also the stresses caused by the environment, for example during transport.
Other packaging known from the medical sector ensures that articles to be kept sterile are packaged hermetically: medicaments to be packaged under sterile conditions are often packaged in aluminum blisters, as described in NL-A-1023464, and here again adequate stability has to be ensured because the blisters are subject to everyday handling by patients who in some instances may have motor disabilities.
WO 2010/094426 describes the production and packaging of a medical aid where aluminum-containing materials are likewise described for keeping the medical aids sterile. A laser-welding process is moreover described for sealing medical aids under sterile conditions in that type of packaging. However, that document gives no more detailed description of the nature of the materials and their processing.
In particular when integrated analytical aids are provided, as described in WO 2010/094426, and these are used not only for the provision of body fluid but also for analysis thereof, it is important to ensure that these highly sensitive aids can be suitably stored: on the one hand, it is important to select packaging which can ensure that the analytical aids are sufficiently sterile, but it is also important to prevent impairment of the highly sensitive surfaces of the analytical aids by the packaging.